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On-line version ISSN 1445-7377Print version ISSN 2079-7222

Indo-Pac. j. phenomenol. (Online) vol.10 n.1 Grahamstown May. 2010

http://dx.doi.org/10.2989/ipjp.2010.10.1.4.1076

doi: 10.2989/ipjp.2010.10.1.4.1076

Becoming "Member Enough": The experience of feelings of competence and incompetence in the process of becoming a professor

Thomas Friedrich

ABSTRACT

The graduate teaching assistant prepares to enter a classroom for the first time as its instructor beset by feelings of incompetence: indeed, learning to successfully display a professional identity is often a terrifying experience, such that promising novices may abandon it prematurely. This hermeneutic phenomenological study asks one female doctoral candidate the following question: What is the experience of feelings of competence and incompetence in the process of becoming a professor? The core finding of this interview-based study is the thematic demarcation of sequential stages in the participant's experience of the process of becoming "member enough". In the presentation of the findings, the identification of the central themes is validated with excerpts from the interview data, and their implications for the study of competence, the sociocultural study of identity development, and the mentoring of pre-service college faculty discussed.

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References

Aoki, T. (1984). Competence in teaching as instrumental and practical action: A critical analysis. In E. Short (Ed.), Competence: Inquiries into its meaning and acquisition in educational settings (pp. 41-69). Lanham, MD: University Press of America. [ Links ]